Salesforce for Outlook is an application that integrates Microsoft Outlook with Salesforce.com and automatically syncs contacts, tasks and events between them. It replaces Connect for Outlook (now a legacy application). Salesforce for Outlook seems to run more smoothly and efficiently than Connect for Outlook, and it includes a number of new features, the coolest of which is the new Salesforce Side Panel.

Following are some highlights and things to consider when implementing Salesforce for Outlook:

Capabilities and Considerations

When setting up the Salesforce-Outlook sync, it is important for system administrators to understand the options and implications. Before activating the syncing functionality, especially for contacts, administrators should develop a plan for how their organization wants to sync data from their users’ local Outlook applications to Salesforce.com.

All organizations experience risk or have felt the effect of risk gone unchecked. Did a project fail, and you didn’t see it coming? Did an important opportunity go unrealized because the proper steps weren’t taken to capitalize on it? Then yes, risk has struck again!

Actively managing risk is the answer. You need to identify it, establish your tolerance, plan for it, and then act on the plan if the risk occurs.

So what is risk? On a global scale, risk can be thought of as any event that will affect the desired outcome of a project, program, organizational goal or other initiative. Risk can manifest itself in two ways: as a threat and as an opportunity. Are you looking out for both?

Salesforce.com for any nonprofit organization can sometimes feel a bit like the Old Wild West. There are many possible paths to accomplishing what you want, no hard-and-fast rules and guidelines, lots of folks trying to sell you snake oil, and there’s always gold in them thar hills.

So how do nonprofits make the right decisions regarding Salesforce.com? One of the secrets to success is having a strategy and methodology from the start – as I’ve put it to clients now and again, “Plan for a plan, then make a plan.” Jumping in without making a map to how and what aspects of Salesforce.com will be used are sure-fire ways to get in to a dustup. You’ll be firing in data and processes pell-mell into a platform that requires thoughtful data alignment and best practices for both scalability and reporting. Part of making this plan is knowing what tools and resources are available for implementing Salesforce.com. Using the right tools for the right jobs means acquiring the right resources outside of your Salesforce.com instance, and using the right tools within it.

Why Finishing Your CRM Implementation Doesn’t Mean You’re Done. There was a time in the nonprofit sector when organizations would identify a technology need and say, “We need something to send out email, or track donations, or manage our events. Let’s get that one!” These types of technology are called “point solutions,” and are designed for and meet specific, relatively one-dimensional, needs only. As a former technology manager, I’ve seen similar hardware acquisition activities take place in many nonprofits: “We need a computer, let’s get that one!” It wasn’t until that computer, new in 2007, became so decrepit and slow in 2012 that a need for a new one was considered. In either case, the technology need was relatively straightforward, and the implementation victory was clear: we’re now using the new tool. The tool fits a specific job, and we tend to continue using it as-is until the job outgrows the tool, or the tool breaks down.

In the first article of this series, we talked about critical qualities to look for in someone who is managing your database. In today’s post, we’ll talk about the responsibilities if this position is specifically managing your fundraising database. While I have worked with The Raiser’s Edge®, Common Ground (retired) and Luminate CRM™, the tasks and responsibilities detailed in this article apply to any development database administrator (DBA) at a nonprofit organization. (In a later post we’ll discuss how these responsibilities might differ if you are talking about someone managing your entire CRM system, which could encompass multiple departments beyond fundraising.)